Nuffield Council on Bioethics
| Founded | 1991 |
|---|---|
| Focus | Exploring ethical issues in biology and medicine |
| Location |
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| Website | Nuffield Council on Bioethics website |
The Nuffield Council on Bioethics is a UK-based independent charitable body, which examines and reports on bioethical issues raised by new advances in biological and medical research. Established in 1991, the Council is funded by the Nuffield Foundation, the Medical Research Council and the Wellcome Trust.
The Council was set up in response to concerns about the lack of a national body responsible for evaluating the ethical implications of developments in biomedicine and biotechnology. Its terms of reference are:
The Council has been variously labelled a “think-tank” , and “the ethics watchdog for the science industry”.
In addition to producing in depth policy reports, the Council produces bioethics resources for teachers and runs a blog.
The Council chooses its own topics on which to report. Members of the Council meet four to six times a year to consider progress on ongoing projects, receive updates on published reports, review recent biomedical advances that raise ethical questions, and select topics for further exploration.
Once the Council has identified a major ethical issue, it organises a workshop to examine the issue further. If appropriate, a Working Party is then established to report on the issue. Members of the Working Party are appointed by the Council and chosen to represent a range of specialist experience and skills. Typically, a Working Party meets regularly over a period of one to two years to produce a report. A public consultation is held to gain the views of a wide range of people to inform the findings of the report. The Council reviews drafts of the report before it is submitted for external peer review and then approves the final report prior to publication.
The Chair of Council is appointed by the Nuffield Foundation in consultation with the other funders. Chairs are appointed for five years. The other members are drawn from relevant fields of expertise including science, medicine, sociology, philosophy and law, for an initial period of three years, with the possibility of an additional three-year term. When vacancies arise, the Council advertises for new members in the national press, through its widely distributed newsletter and on its website. The Council's Membership Subgroup considers and makes recommendations to the Council on future members selected from the respondents to the advertisements.
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